This is my second foray in to the subject of free will, having read Dan Barker's excellent Free Will Explained back in 2018. I enjoyed Sam's take bettThis is my second foray in to the subject of free will, having read Dan Barker's excellent Free Will Explained back in 2018. I enjoyed Sam's take better, as he was more committed to one side of the argument - that we DO NOT have free will - and the fact that he's an eloquent writer. In this book he doesn't get bogged down in the details and makes his case in a short 66 pages, not including the acknowledgements, notes, and index.
Harris makes a convincing argument and addresses his disagreements with others who have written on the subject such as German neuroscientist Martin Heisenberg and the late, great American philosopher Dan Dennett (one of the four horsemen of atheism along with author Harris, Richard Dawkins, and the late Christopher Hitchens). I particularly liked these parts of the books as Harris did a nice job making his points against the theories presented by these great minds.
Harris also uses a number of interesting examples and historical events to illustrate how those on both sides of the free will debate would interpret what went on.
I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the concept of free will. Short, to the point, and full of thought provoking ideas regarding a concept most people probably have never thought about. Harris makes it make sense. ...more
The Edge of Knowledge: Unsolved Mysteries of the Cosmos is a super interesting science book in which theoretical physicist Lawrence Krauss takes a deeThe Edge of Knowledge: Unsolved Mysteries of the Cosmos is a super interesting science book in which theoretical physicist Lawrence Krauss takes a deep dive in to known unknowns in five different subjects: time, space, matter, life, and consciousness. He also reminds the reader that there may be unknown unknowns in science as well (and yes, he includes that Donald Rumsfeld quote in the opening pages). As much as we know about science there is much more yet to be discovered, more so in some subjects such as matter and space, than others such as life / biology. The beauty of science is recognizing we don't have all the answers, and it's fun to read about all the possibilities. It's much more fun to pursue knowledge than pretend you know that everything was created supernaturally and there is no need for questions.
I really liked this book and like Krauss's mostly non-overly technical style of writing. He starts out each chapter with several questions which he will address for each subject. I feel like I have a pretty solid basic understanding of most scientific concepts and was blown away by some of Krauss's hypothesizing but also overwhelmed as some of this went way over my head. Two concepts I struggle with are quantum theory and string theory and no matter how much I read about them I just can't wrap my primate brain around them.
The standout chapters for me were Time and Life. The concept of time and time travel have always been science fiction plot devices and have always piqued my interest. The Life chapter addressed questions: What is life?, How did life originate?, Is DNA life unique?, Are we alone?, and What is the future of life?. This chapter was fascinating to me, especially the science of the origin of life which Krauss predicts will be solved in the coming decades with all we've learned recently from science such as the amount of organic material traveling through space on asteroids and comets and the sheer amount of water we've discovered on other bodies in our solar systems and on comets in our solar neighborhood. Creationists, whose "god of the gaps" has been regulated to a minute space through scientific discoveries over the last couple of centuries, can give up the ghost once we show how life arrived on Earth naturally. Prevailing scientific theories have always been more feasible than their explanation: magic!
The book contains an impressively through index in which every scientific concept and player in the field is listed, Krauss leaves no stone unturned. The book is only around 200 pages and it a quick read. I highly recommend even though I didn't understand parts of it.
Personal anecdote: about a month ago I attended a Zoom presentation by Atheists For Liberty in which Lawrence M. Krauss was one of the featured speakers. It was fantastic. Krauss spoke from his office and I noticed that behind him he had a picture of the great 19th-century agnostic orator Robert G Ingersoll, a personal hero of mine. I commented in the busy chat that I also admired the great Ingersoll and liked his picture. After Krauss presented he jumped in the chat and thanked me for my comment, and stated that this was an original photograph of Ingersoll given to him by Johnny Depp! In this book Krauss mentions that he participated in a public dialogue with Johnny Depp on the subject of computers, creativity, and madness. ...more
Clarence Darrow was a brilliant attorney whose most famous case was defending John T. Scopes in the 1925 State of Tennessee vs Scopes trial aka "ScopeClarence Darrow was a brilliant attorney whose most famous case was defending John T. Scopes in the 1925 State of Tennessee vs Scopes trial aka "Scopes Monkey Trial. Darrow went head to head with William Jennings Bryan in the case involving the Tennessee Butler Act which forbade the teaching of evolution in state funded schools. We didn't want our kids knowing that humans evolved from lower forms of life, after all. Darrow is a hero amongst atheists and agnostics for his performance in this case and also publicly expressing his secular views. Sadly, this creationism vs. evolution debate is still a thing 100 years later even after science has settled this matter.
The Agnostic Lawyer is a collection of some of his essays from back in early 20th century in which he takes down Christianity, the Bible, the Lord's Day Alliance, and a number of other specific beliefs such as the soul and eternal life. (The Lord's Day Alliance was a group of Christian churches working together to lobby for Sunday rest laws -furthering the intrusion of religion in society at the time.) As one would expect, Darrow's arguments are presented eloquently and this was a very satisfying listen for fellow non-believer. He doesn't pull any punches in his arguments regarding the absurdity of numerous biblical claims and religious beliefs.
Parts that stood out to me was his long commentary about the impossibility of eternal life and his explanation of how the Christian church relies on its members to not eat fruit from the tree of knowledge in order to maintain the grip on its flock. It thought this was especially fitting as the scientific knowledge in the last 100 years has reduced the god of the gaps to a minuscule sliver, which continues to shrink daily!
The secular perspectives Darrow shares in The Agnostic Lawyer were more uncommon and not as publicly expressed as now due to the then power and influence of the Church but I'm sure he influenced people interested in knowing the truth. He, like the great Robert Ingersoll, was an important secular orator of his day and both of them were predecessors of the likes of Christopher Hitchens, Sam Harris, and Richard Dawkins. ...more
I found this to be a really good companion piece to the excellent Over the Earth I Come, also about the Minnesota-Indian War of 1862, which I recentlyI found this to be a really good companion piece to the excellent Over the Earth I Come, also about the Minnesota-Indian War of 1862, which I recently read. While Over the Earth I Come was a well-researched and fascinating history book about the war, Through Dakota Eyes is a collection of first hand accounts from those who took part or were directly affected by the war, and not just from the Sioux, but also a number of mixed-bloods and white settlers. Many of these accounts were interviews which appeared in the newspapers of the day.
This bloody chapter in Minnesota history took place over 38 days. The Dakota as a whole were upset due to unkept promises by the American government and late payments of gold and food, some of this due to the constraints felt due to the ongoing US Civil War. Indians were starving and their pleas were met with more empty promises and indifference. When a group of young Indians attacked and killed a white family, some in the Dakota leadership decided it was time to push the whites out. It was thought to be good timing as the US military in Minnesota was thin due to their involvement in the Civil War. The Dakota warriors led by Little Crow killed over 450 whites and took a couple hundred more as prisoners. The US forts in the area were undermanned and under armed due to the stresses of the war and Minnesota and Washington’s response was slow. Towns such as New Ulm and Hutchinson had to fend for themselves against hundreds of Dakota warriors. Settlers on the prairie were approached by Indians who they recognized personally as they had been friendly to them and who they shared food with only to be murdered and dismembered. Even weeks after the war, the US soldiers who did finally arrive to defeat the Dakota found starving and badly injured settlers laying in houses or wandering around in shock. Sadly, the war pretty much marked the end of the Sioux way of life in Minnesota.
Through Dakota Eyes is broken down in to ten parts, arranged chronologically starting with the causes of the war all the way to the final chapter which describes its aftermath. Each chapter begins with a short historical setup and goes on to feature the accounts of the persons who lived through it. The book also contains helpful maps and illustrations of 30 of the people featured in the book. Each chapter finishes with pages of notes. The book concludes with an appendix which lists the narratives of the sixty-three Dakota full-bloods and mixed-bloods who were known to have produced accounts of the war and its aftermath.
Since the chapters are organized chronologically, the editors chose to snip and divide accounts to fit the particular chapters' timelines. This didn't work so well for me. I would've rather have read the accounts in whole. There were notes in later chapters pointing back to where previous information was so you could go back and re-read accounts if a refresher was needed or if you forgot someone's biographical information.
Many of the accounts are fascinating. It is hard for me to fathom that this bloody war occurred here in Minnesota. Much of the accounts were difficult to read as it was a bloody event and savagery was carried out by both sides. There were factions of the Dakota who were against the war and refused to join in. Indian and American relations had been friendly for the most part and some Indians even traveled as representatives of their tribes to Washington DC prior to the war to meet with American leadership. Seeing US military might and technology first hand on their trips east, these representatives knew that they had no chance to win a war against the Americans and warned the Dakota leadership. But the pro-war Indians thought that if they could push the whites out of the State they would give up not return.
One of the most interesting narratives was told by an Indian woman named Snana. During the war, she was given a white captive girl named Mary Schwandt, whose settlement was overrun and family killed. She took care of Mary as one of her own children and hid Mary in a hole covered with a blanket when mean and angry "bad" Indians came out about looking for captives to kill. She turned Mary over to Sibley's army when it arrived and drove the Indians out. Thirty-two years later Snana, who lived on a reservation in Nebraska, learned that Mary was married and living in St. Paul and went to visit her and reported she was respected and treated well, and it felt like she was visiting her own child. Ohhhh......
This was an excellent collection of first hand accounts of the ugliest chapter in Minnesota history. Being that I read Over the Earth I Come previously, some of the history was review and some of the information in the individuals' accounts was repetitive but all were fascinating and candid, although sometimes very bloody and brutal. I'm happy to have read Through Dakota Eyes as it put me in the heads of those who participated in and survived the war, some of whom were sadly unjustly shipped out of State and suffered for the remainders of their lives....more
Living in Minnesota, I’ve heard of the Great Sioux Uprising of 1862 and the subsequent mass execution of 38 Dakota Indians in Mankato. I had no idea iLiving in Minnesota, I’ve heard of the Great Sioux Uprising of 1862 and the subsequent mass execution of 38 Dakota Indians in Mankato. I had no idea it had been a full-blown war with the hundreds of settlers killed, and the Mankato hangings were the largest mass execution in US history. This disaster went right to the highest office - President Lincoln had the final say as to which Indians were executed, he stayed death sentences for most of the 303 Indian prisoners, ordering the death of the 38 who survivors’ testimonies stated were the murders and rapists. Then Governor Ramsey stated that the Dakota "be exterminated or driven forever beyond the borders of the State". The Dakota were indeed banished to what is now South Dakota. This was the ugliest chapter in Minnesota history and I’m shocked and disappointed that this isn’t more well known here.
I thought the book was excellent. It was terribly sad, horribly brutal and violent, and often hard to read. The author lays it all out there. It was well-researched, with six pages of chapter notes, a bibliography, and an index. I especially appreciated the way the author told the story from both the Indian and white settler’s side. He did not leave out the gruesome details of the brutal killings and torture of the white settlers – men women, and children alike. Atrocities as bad as any I’ve ever read. He also details the well-known wrongdoings committed to the Indians by traders and the US government. Already pushed in to a narrow reservation along the Minnesota River and subject to broken treaties, bad deals from European traders, and late annuity payments by the US government, the Indians were affected by a harsh winter which caused crop failures and the loss of game. When they asked for help the were told by a governmental trading representative to "eat grass or your own dung". They Dakota were pushed to the brink and after the murder of a white family on a dare which went too far by young Dakotas under Chief Little Crow started the war for the most part as Little Crow was desperate, and he knew that the US Army was stressed and undermanned in Minnesota due to the ongoing US Civil War which was not going well for the North at the time. He knew that this was his chance to wipe out the white settlers in the Minnesota River Valley of western MN and perhaps this would lead to the whites permanently abandoning their occupation of Indian lands for a long time.
Over 38 days, the Dakota warrior led by Little Crow killed over 450 whites and took a couple hundred more as prisoners. The US forts in the area were undermanned and under armed due to the stresses of the war and Minnesota and Washington’s response was slow. Towns such as New Ulm and Hutchinson had to fend for themselves against hundreds of Dakota warriors. Settlers on the prairie were approached by Indians who they recognized personally as they had been friendly to them and who they shared food with only to be murdered and dismembered. Even weeks after the war, the US soldiers who did finally arrive to defeat the Dakota found starving and badly injured settlers laying in houses or wandering around in shock. The eyewitness testimonies recounted are as horrible as in any war book I’ve read.
The book doesn't finish with the end of the war and the hanging of the Dakota warriors. The author details how the rest of the non-combatant Dakotas were rounded up and brought to basically a concentration camp at Fort Snelling (where the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers join) via a miles long wagon train by the military. It was consistently attacked by angry whites. The survivors of this long trip were eventually put on steamboats and then in box cars and shipped to Crow Creek Reservation, regarded as poor land in South Dakota which featured limited agricultural land and little game. The book begins with a detailed narrative of the hangings and ends with this depressing episode.
I’m looking forward to visiting some of the memorials and sites which the events of the book took place, I have been to some of the towns attacked (~50 miles away) and through battle areas but never knew they harbored such a horrific past. I drove right by the Chief Little Crow statue in Hutchinson on work trips to western MN, not knowing its significance in MN history - totally unaware of the lengths he went through to rally his people against the wave of settlement and injustices. This should be required reading in Minnesota schools.
Seth Andrews was brought up in a fundamentalist Christian family and was a Christian radio host for ten years, and then, at around 30 years old, he beSeth Andrews was brought up in a fundamentalist Christian family and was a Christian radio host for ten years, and then, at around 30 years old, he began to question his faith and eventually became an atheist. He now is one of the biggest personalities in American atheist circles and his podcast, The Thinking Atheist is one of the most downloaded atheist podcasts. I had the pleasure of hearing him speak and chatting with him at a Minnesota Atheist event in 2018. He is an excellent speaker and a gracious and intelligent person. Oh, and his voice is so smoooooth.
Christianity Made Me Talk Like an Idiot is his fourth book. He makes it clear that this book is a criticism of Christianity and not Christians as he, like most of the rest of us atheists, have numerous friends and family members who are Christian or believers in other faiths. Seth's wife is a Christian. After a Forward by Gayle Jordan of Recovering From Religion and an Introduction by Seth the book takes off - there are fifteen rapid-fire chapters each one containing much light hearted humor and plenty of personal anecdotes as one would expect from a former fundamentalist. The material is very relatable for many of us former Christians. By applying logic and critical thinking to the core beliefs of any religion it will unravel before your eyes.
Some of the chapters (with quotes) I found particularly entertaining were:
The Ironies of Evolution Denial. "This whole messy affair ultimately brings us back to the ludicrousness of the claim that humans are the product of magic and wizardry, conjured as imperfect, allowed to fumble and fall in dangerous ignorance, and be both responsible for everything that is wrong with the world and the center of the universe's attention."
Paranoia and Panic from the Divinely Protected. "Fundamental Christianity expertly flips every challenge to its cultural dominance with Shakespearean acts of victimhood, sometimes actually convinced hat the favored majority is the underdog. (As the saying goes, when you're accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression.)"
Prayer, Priorities, and the God of Diminishing Returns. "Years ago, I might have joined the scavenger hunt for divine markers in the cancer wards, the abusive homes, the terrorist aftermaths, the smoldering remains of deadly wildfire, and the endless list of human horrors past and present. Today, I find this kind of thinking nonsensical. It is illogical. It is idiotic. Any deity more interested in the Lost & Found Department than in genuinely critical needs is either incompetent, uninterested, or (most likely) nonexistent."
- and -
"Yet I have no doubt that Christians will continue to scan the horizons for random fortune and recognizable shapes: I-beams bent in to crosses, The shapes of heavenly faces in the clouds, good parking spaces, wet Bible pages in the rubble, chance encounters with forgotten people and long-lost objects, car crash escapes and rescues, and missing bicycles found in pawn shops, all while praising their God of diminishing returns."
When Christians Don't Know Their Bibles. "The implications are astounding: the planet's largest religion can't source the foundational book of Christianity". "Think about it. If there was no Adam or Eve, then there was no Original Sin, which means that humankind wasn't infected at birth with a sin nature that propelled them towards mass extinction in the Great Flood.......If we cannot source and verify the Book of Genesis, the dominoes of an entire religion fall."
Other chapters tackle subjects such as: the creepy Communion ritual, purity culture, the second coming, healing and medical hypocrisy, and cafeteria Christianity. In the final chapter, Seth points the finger back at his former self. He includes ten pages of end notes as well - a lot of work went in to this.
Former Christians will get a kick out of this. Fans of his podcast will recognize some of the stories. Anyone who has heard Seth speak knows he's a talented story teller. I'm glad he takes the time and effort to put his anecdotes on paper. He has been an inspiration to many of us who have been freed from the shackles of irrational and magical beliefs.
This is an excellent short book which premise is in the title: stop rolling along with societal religious norms and pretending to believe and just be This is an excellent short book which premise is in the title: stop rolling along with societal religious norms and pretending to believe and just be an out atheist. She argues that if more of us come out and let our non-beliefs be known that atheist would be less of a maligned word in society. (Although I found that "atheist" certainly isn't a negative word in Great Britain). Even today there are a number of US states where non-belief in a god disqualifies a person from holding public office. In the book she even reads some of the statutes and they actually kind of disturbing. These states have amended their constitutions many times over the years but have never removed this belief-in-the-supernatural requirement. It's crazy. And this country appears to be heading down the god road even faster right now.
The author, Kate Cohen, is a Washington Post columnist and as such this is really well written, and I listened to the Audible book which she narrates which is always a plus.
Kate Cohen grew up Jewish but never really believed in a god and and met her husband, who she met in college was also raised Jewish but is a non-believer. For a while she pretended to believe to appease family members and associates but came to the conclusion it was better to be true to herself and openly embrace reality. When raising their children Kate and her husband decided to be truthful with their kids about how the world really worked. This caused some friction between her family and her the older generation of believers as one would expect.
The book is divided in to two parts: The Making of an Atheist, in which Kate describes her upbringing and path to rejecting belief and raising her own kids in the truth; and, What We Lose is What We Gain, in which she describes how she navigates this supernatural-haunted country in terms of religious rites of passage, holidays, and church attendance.
The two main parts are sandwiched between a prologue and an epilogue. In the prologue she recounts the story of Rebecca Vizmun, who in in 2013 was interviewed on CNN after a tornado destroyed her home and killed 24 people in her town. Vizmun was asked by Wolf Blitzer if she was thanking the Lord for saving her daughter and husband and she responded by saying "I'm actually an atheist". Post-disaster piety thrown in the mud where it belongs. The epilogue includes a delightful story of her young daughter setting an adult straight about Santa Claus in a post-Christmas conversation and puts an exclamation point on her message to get out there be honest - "everyone who conceals the truth makes it harder for other people to be honest".
In the section Why I Don't Call Myself an Agnostic she explains that she is sure god does not exist and offers her four key points for non-belief:
1. The Greek myths are obviously stories, the Norse myths are obviously stories, L Ron Hubbard and Joseph Smith obviously just made that shit up. Extrapolate!
2. Life is confusing and death is scary, naturally humans want to believe that someone capable is in charge of everything and we that somehow continue to live after we die, but wanting doesn't make it so.
3. The holy books that underpin some of the biggest theist religions are riddled with "facts" now disproved by science and "morality" now disavowed by modern adherence. Extrapolate!
4. The existence of child rape and other unfathomable cruelties.
She goes on to say, "If you are not using the term 'god' to mean a deity with the capacity to design, to choose, to create a being actively engaged in human affairs and instead are using it describing nature itself then you're falling in to the trap that Daniel Dennett calls "belief in belief in god."" I think a lot of people think this way. It's obvious there is no one up in the clouds pulling puppet strings or watching over us. We are on our own and need to face up to that, but until society comes to its senses, us atheists will continue be the oddballs.
I loved this. I've read a lot of similar types of coming out books so some of it felt repetitive but I appreciate how well written this one was and the confident, unabrasive tone. 4.5 stars.
I got this audiobook on sale for a buck on Chirp and it was worth it, although one could probably get the same information reading Robert the Bruce's I got this audiobook on sale for a buck on Chirp and it was worth it, although one could probably get the same information reading Robert the Bruce's Wikipedia page. The narrator Theodore Zephyr had quite the deep and almost intimidating expressive voice, perfect for such a tale. I would've loved having someone with a Scottish accent do it, though.
This short little book covers the life and times of the great Scottish king Robert the Bruce, from birth in 1274 CE to his death in 1329 CE. He lived a fascinating life and oddly enough the strange circumstances surrounding his death and what happened to his body and heart (separated at death) were maybe the most interesting parts of this.
I knew of the great king through displays in museums and saw statures of him in Edinburgh and Stirling castles in Scotland, and learned of his battlefield exploits from our tour guide at Stirling Castle. The entrance of Edinburgh Castle is flanked by two impressive statures of Robert the Bruce and William Wallace, it's a neat sight. While I knew of his battlefield victories and his kinship with William Wallace's during the fight against England, I knew not of his childhood years or later years. Being a child of royalty he was raised with the best tutors and battle training (by a well-regarded knight) one could possibly have at the time. Kings in this era were right down in the meat grinder during battles and the fierceness, strength, and bravery of Robert were legendary.
I never miss SNL and Weekend Update with Jost and Che is always solid, especially the times where they write offensive jokes for each other and have tI never miss SNL and Weekend Update with Jost and Che is always solid, especially the times where they write offensive jokes for each other and have to read them. The jokes Che writes for Colin are always super racist and you can see Colin squirm in his chair. And one of the best Weekend Updates was this year on April Fool's Day when Che got the audience to mute their laughter to Colin's jokes and which resulted in Colin losing his composure because he couldn't believe he was bombing so badly on live TV. Great stuff.
My favorite chapters in the book were about his his SNL career, his time living in Russia as a college student, and by far the best chapter in my opinion was about his mother and her career as the chief medical officer for the NYC Fire Department, particularly about her experiences on the front lines during 9/11. Wow. I liked how he recounted the ideas behind some of the better-known SNL skits he wrote. I have no idea who writes which sketch and was surprised how many of my favorite sketches he wrote.
Most of this is excellent and a fun listen on my commute. I found myself laughing out loud regularly. I really enjoy his witty and self-deprecating humor. He had a crazy childhood growing up on Staten Island and this is the subject of a few hilarious chapters as well.
There were a couple of chapters I should've skipped. Did we need a chapter about him crapping his pants? And I thought the WWE chapter didn't fit in the mix. But overall it was a really fun listen, especially with his entertaining narration....more
Most people probably know Asimov from his extensive science fiction catalog, but he was also a prolific writer of non-fiction. This book written in 19Most people probably know Asimov from his extensive science fiction catalog, but he was also a prolific writer of non-fiction. This book written in 1958 is a great example of how Asimov could take a complicated subject and make it easy for the layman to understand and appreciate. This is in the public domain, and I listened to it free on Librivox. The narration was well done.
This book is the story of nuclear energy, up until the dawn of the first nuclear power plants right around the time of the books publication. He starts out with some basic chemistry, explaining the basics of atomic theory (protons, neutrons, electrons, etc.) going back to the beginning of its discovery. He explains each major discovery and introduces the people behind them.
I thought the most interesting parts were about the first nuclear reactor, and the race for the atomic bomb during late WWII. The first human-made nuclear reaction was the Chicago Pile-1 in December of 1942 at the University of Chicago. This essentially was the beginning of the Atomic Age. The race for the atomic bomb was of utmost importance to the Allies during WWII as its discovery would shape the future of the world.
With all the promise of reliable and almost unlimited green energy if handled properly, it's a shame that nations are forgoing and rejecting this resource for unreliable, land-intensive green energy sources or even reverting back to coal. Especially with the availability of modern, safe, next generation reactors. With energy needs going through the roof it won't be long before world leaders regret some of their energy decisions. But that's just my opinion....more
I think any Twins fan will agree with me that this book is fantastic! While technically a memoir full of anecdotes going back to his childhood in ruraI think any Twins fan will agree with me that this book is fantastic! While technically a memoir full of anecdotes going back to his childhood in rural Minnesota, Dick focuses the book (about 250 pages of 291) on his life and times during his career with the Twins, since 1981. He became their primary play-by-play guy in 1983 and still is. I arrived in the Twin Cities in the fall of 1983 and have been a Twins fan ever since, so his voice has been a part of my life you could say. In the 1980s he also did play by play for University of Minnesota basketball, football, and hockey. In 2013, he was elected in to the Minnesota Broadcasting Hall of Fame.
The book is fittingly divided in to nine innings (sections) with each anecdote labeled as a stitch on a baseball. Baseballs have 108 stiches so there are 108 stories. I own the updated 2021 second edition which contains an epilogue in which he talks about working during the MLB shortened COVID season. The book is peppered with some of his personal black and white photos.
Dick is a top notch play-by-play announcer with a great sense of humor and a quick wit, and an unmatched knowledge of Twins history. He and the recently retired from broadcasting Bert Blyleven (who wrote the forward to this book) were a highly entertaining combo in the boot as Blyleven was equally as funny and didn't hold back or sugar coat his opinions. His color guy is now a rotation of several former Twins but the broadcasts remain highly entertaining, even when the Twins aren't.
In addition to the plethora of behind-the-scenes Twins stories, he also tells how he got to the big stage, and relates some personal stories which ran the gamut of emotions. You'll laugh, you'll cry. Most of the Twins stories will be known to Twins fans, but Dick offers a unique perspective and is a great storyteller as fans of his broadcasts already know. One of his personal stories was particularly interesting story to me - about the Minnesota tornados of July 1997. He lives not far from me, in a rural area one town over, and went through what my family went through with widespread damage, downed trees on our property, and no power for four days.
On a personal note, in the early 2000s Dick's son and my youngest son were in the same boy's choir for a year and being the fan that I was and am, I always made it a point for my wife and I to sit at the same table as he and his wife during choir functions. I got to know him a little on a personal level. He's as funny, gracious, and down-to-earth as he comes across on broadcasts and in interviews. He and his wife do a lot of charity work and are just excellent people. Dick's son, Erik, is now a broadcaster himself for a MLB AA team.
I can't recommend this one highly enough to any Minnesota Twins fan out there. It will bring back a lot of memories. ...more
Back in the spring of 1984, when I was a freshman at the University of Minnesota, a friend of mine recommended that I listen to Patrick Reusse and JoeBack in the spring of 1984, when I was a freshman at the University of Minnesota, a friend of mine recommended that I listen to Patrick Reusse and Joe Souchery's radio show, Monday Night Sports Talk. I was hooked. It was hilarious, irreverent, and they talked about everything under the sun. I've been a fan of Reusse ever since and still listen to his appearances on local radio and read his columns in the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Reusse is a great sportswriter and can really tell a story. Plus he is a bit of a curmudgeon and has been a great agitator over the years, a nice change of pace from the homers and pollyannaish sports writers which are all too common. His best attribute in my opinion is his humor, he never fails to make me laugh. He had me laughing about the Timberwolves today.
Tales from the Minnesota Sports Beat is part autobiography, part Patrick's greatest hits, and part Patrick's greatest mishits. For me much of this was a review. I've heard almost all of these stories already over the last ~40 years in his columns, radio shows, and even his 90s TV show which featured three other sports reporters and ran for 20 years. He has been a Minnesota sports reporting institution since he arrived at the St. Paul Dispatch in 1968.
This January, Patrick was given the Herb Carneal Lifetime Achievement Award by the Minnesota Twins for his sports writing and reporting. In true irreverent Patrick fashion, during his acceptance speech he needled the Twins' brass for trading away the American League batting champion during the offseason and needled Twins manager Rocco Baldelli for his overmanaging of the pitching staff the prior season.
Anyone who is a fan of Patrick or is in to the Minnesota sports scene will get a kick out of the stories in this book. Heck, I can even think of a few hilarious stories that didn't make it. Good stuff....more
I really enjoyed this sequel to Dawkins' first autobiography An Appetite for Wonder I've read some of his books and have seen him speak twice, and aftI really enjoyed this sequel to Dawkins' first autobiography An Appetite for Wonder I've read some of his books and have seen him speak twice, and after reading this two autobiographies I feel like I know him better. Like I said in the review of An Appetite for Wonder, I wish I would've know some of this information when I met him in person. Oh well.
Brief Candle in the Dark held my interest from start to finish. It was full of great science, consistently funny, and always fascinating. This second book starts up where the first left off - right after the publication of The Selfish Gene in 1976 but the events are not in chronological order but are organized by subject. For example, he devotes chapters to his lectures, debates, TV experiences, scientific studies, encounters with other notables of science and society, and other themes.
I was surprised to hear him lightheartedly chat about the time he was lampooned on South Park, considering how that all went down! He has spent time with innumerable big names in the scientific community Some of my favorites: he heaps admiration on to the brilliant planetary scientist Carolyn Porco and her stellar career (who appeared with him at the Dallas event I attended), talks about time spent with Neil Armstrong, and recounts the time spent with the famous paleoanthropologist Richard Leaky, which contains probably the most funny story in the whole book. He also gives a touching tribute to his friend, the great Christopher Hitchens.
To my delight he spends more time in this second installment skewering religion, particularly creationism. He is constantly being attacked by creationists. And when your best selling book is titled The God Delusion religious leaders are going to come after you and challenges to debate arrive fast and furious. One of the funniest anecdotes in this part of the book relates to a lecture with a Q&A he gave in Virginia in which nearby Liberty University (Jerry Fallwell's religious fundamental institution) sent a bunch of students to riddle Dawkins with questions about biblical "facts", fossil dating methods, evolution, etc., and one mentioned that Liberty possessed a three thousand year old dinosaur fossil and what did he think of that? He replied, “leave and go to a proper university”! Another enjoyable rebuttal of religious fundamentalism is his reading from and passionately rebutting a Jehovah Witness pamphlet which portents to explain how the world came about supernaturally rather than from a natural means. Dawkins states, "Creationists have lost ignominiously lost the argument, and deception is their last resort".
Dawkins didn't like debating theologians as he felt it gave them and their beliefs perceived equal footing with science upon the stage. He did some debates, though, and one memorable exchange went like this:
Jesuit Father George Coyne: "God is not an explanation, if I were seeking for a God of explanation I probably would be an atheist".
Richard Dawkins: "That's exactly why I am and atheist. If an all-powerful creator God is really there, how could he not be an explanation for things. Or if he's not the explanation for anything, what exactly does he do with his time to make him worth worshipping?"
He also talks a lot about his intellectual life and does a deep dive in to a few of his research projects. I didn't find these parts of the book as enjoyable as his personal anecdotes but the science was always fascinating and it was interesting to hear him talk about his thought processes and theories.
I listened to him narrate this on Audible. I think that's the way to experience this Richard is a great speaker. Admirers of him will enjoy his anecdotes and appreciate learning what makes this great scientist tick.
Fans of Richard Dawkins will enjoy An Appetite for Wonder. This is the first of two installments of his published autobiography, and covers the first Fans of Richard Dawkins will enjoy An Appetite for Wonder. This is the first of two installments of his published autobiography, and covers the first 35 years of his life, up until the time he published his first book The Selfish Gene. I listened to the audiobook, which was read by Richard.
Richard is a brilliant scientist and science communicator, a great writer, and an elegant speaker; and I thoroughly enjoyed this book and will jump right in to his second autobiography, Brief Candle in the Dark. I wish I had read this prior to meeting and chatting with him in Dallas in 2018, I could’ve asked him some relevant questions like if he was still infatuated with Elvis rather than blathering like a fan-boy.
Anyone familiar with Richard’s tone in his science and atheist published works will be surprised how pleasant his tone is in this one - very warm and witty. He talks lovingly of his parents, who brought him to Africa where he spent a great deal of his childhood, and of other relatives he was close to growing up. His parents and a number of relatives were also scientists and inspired him to be a scientist. Richard includes a number of his mother’s diary entries about his youthful antics in this book, all read by his wife (now separated), Lalla Ward. His experiences in Africa were fascinating as one might imagine. What a place to grow up. He and his family eventually find their way back to England and he is sent an all-male boarding school at age seven, which prepares him for eventual acceptance in to Oxford. Some of his boarding school anecdotes are charming and some are rough like teen age boys can be. The story I thought was particularly entertaining was his discovery and love of the music of Elvis. His father once caught Richard dancing and singing along to an Elvis album playing loudly in the house, thinking his parents were both out. Another story I enjoyed was his rebellion against religion and attending church service at his Anglican school at a young age. You see the origin of Richard the non-believer and he explains how his rejection of faith and the supernatural started. That being said, he talks very little about his atheism in the rest of the book.
During the recollections of his Oxford days, Richard talks about his research work and gets a little deeper in to the science which I thought was less interesting. Later, he goes in to detail of his writing experience with his first published book, the massively successful The Selfish Gene, in which he also does a dive in to the science behind it. I enjoyed this book very much but would’ve rather heard about more life experiences during this period of his life.
In the last chapter he looks back upon his first 35 years and goes through some “what-if” scenarios pertaining to major decisions he made and experiences he had during his life up to this point. Finally, he talks about his greatest scientific hero, Charles Darwin, and how he and every other biologist treads in Darwin’s footsteps. Richard goes on to copy what Darwin did at the conclusion of his autobiography – list his personal faculties lacked or possessed, and how his life experiences shaped the person he became.
I’m giving this five stars as I learned a lot about Richard and it was a joy to listen to. Going in to this I knew relatively little of his formative years, probably only what he's talked about in the live speaking events I've attended....more
This was a free Kindle book full of funny advice complimented by illustrations and photographs about how not to become your parents by Dr. Rick of theThis was a free Kindle book full of funny advice complimented by illustrations and photographs about how not to become your parents by Dr. Rick of the Progressive commercials. It's a quick read, a person could get through it before their tea gets cold.
Some of the advice I didn't agree with. For example, Dr. Rick says aprons are only for protecting a cook's clothing and should not contain messages. C'mon! You should see the HILARIOUS Heisenberg "Let's Cook" apron I bought for Lisa. I'm still laughing.
Most of the advice is right on but unfortunately much too late for an old fellow like myself who is probably un-savable. This is a fun light read if you need a few laughs. ...more
Brin addresses the science behind historical increases in human lifespan, what could be done to increase our lifespans in the future, and the ramificaBrin addresses the science behind historical increases in human lifespan, what could be done to increase our lifespans in the future, and the ramifications of cryonics / other brain preservation techniques. Technology in this area has advanced beyond the simple frozen brain in a jar we're all familiar with.
He wonders out loud what would even happen if a person's brain was "unfrozen" in the future, and makes reference to a number of science fiction works in which this is part of the plot.
I really liked this. It was full of good science and interesting speculation. And after listening I think I'll be fine just having my brain activity end in the 21st century when my physical body ceases to function for whatever reason.
This is a short audiobook about the many ways the world could end. Brin is a good writer and an entertaining personality, and this was a fun read/listThis is a short audiobook about the many ways the world could end. Brin is a good writer and an entertaining personality, and this was a fun read/listen. He covered somethings I never imagined, such as someone creating a tiny black hole. Huh? Some of the topics he talks about are included in his science fiction novels, which he references. Brin reads the audiobook himself which is a plus.
I've always been a fan of dystopian science fiction so this is a topic that interests me. If one is interested in a really good fully fleshed-out book about how the world ends I would recommend Phil Plait's Death from the Skies! These Are the Ways the World Will End.... The Earth is in such a fragile position astronomically speaking!
Misleading title. Far less than half of the book was about the Oatman girls. Mostly this was a book about Native American skirmishes (between EuropeanMisleading title. Far less than half of the book was about the Oatman girls. Mostly this was a book about Native American skirmishes (between European settlers and each other) in the American west, and I'll bet I learned almost as much about other girls kidnapped by the Native Americans as I did about the Oatman girls. I did get some good recommendations for three other books to read regarding woman settlers who were kidnapped by and assimilated in to Native American tribes, though. Cynthia Ann Parker, Mary Jemison, and Mrs. Johnson all went through similar ordeals and wrote about their experiences. Some of these other captivities after kidnapping were better documented. But I would like to read a book about the Oatmans some time. This certainly was a bad choice to spend an Audible credit on. One positive: the narrator sounded just like Woody Harrelson's character in Zombieland.
I'm going to bump my rating up to two stars (even though it wasn't "OK" IMO) because there was some interesting history in this book. Battles were graphically described. The parts centering on Olive Oatman, the sister who survived the longest, were really interesting. It's remarkable what she went through, seeing her family savagely slaughtered and watching her parents' scalps being prepared in the traditional fashion way after she was taken prisoner. But, consistent with other such stories, after years and sometimes decades, the woman gradually grew connected to their Native American tribes and were treated like any other tribe member. The tribes became their family and they learned to love their way of life.
I thought the writing was terrible. Very disjointed. I sometimes didn't know what the author was talking about. A lot of the information was repeated. And the conclusion was hard to follow, jumping all over the place and not making any sort of coherent point at all. Seven minutes of pontificating and rambling. A fitting ending. ...more
Flights of Fancy would be an excellent introduction to Dawkins to a first time reader. It's an excellent, succinct, and to-the-point book about the hiFlights of Fancy would be an excellent introduction to Dawkins to a first time reader. It's an excellent, succinct, and to-the-point book about the history of flight (and gliding) in the animal kingdom, including the relatively short history of human flight. He even touches on how plants use air currents to spread their seeds and pollinate.
While relatively short by Dawkins' standards, less than five hours in audio divided in to short chapters, the book is packed with a ton of great biological information and interesting observations, all read to you by the world's preeminent evolutionary biologist. As always his prose is smooth and satisfying, and he manages to sprinkle some humor in here and there for good measure. When it comes right down to it, it's really amazing that animals can fly so efficiently considering the amount of energy required and physical traits needed to overcome the Earth's gravity.
After looking at the previews of the Kindle and print additions I regret not buying the physical version of the book. The illustrations are fantastic and numerous. I'll have to spend a lunch hour at Barnes and Noble with it to take them all in.
Richard is 81 now and I hope he has some more books in him. I've seen him speak in person twice, in Rochester MN and Dallas. My wife and I flew to Dallas in 2018 and bought the meet and greet passes for his appearance with the great Carolyn Porco. It was a thrill for me to chat with him and get a picture of the two of us. He is one of humanity's brightest minds....more
This is a really good introduction to social psychology for someone with limited knowledge of the subject. I was surprised to find that much of the suThis is a really good introduction to social psychology for someone with limited knowledge of the subject. I was surprised to find that much of the subject matter was a review for me. I had a psychology course in college but I think I've learned much of the subject matter covered over the years in the many science podcasts I listen to. For this reason I probably didn't make much of an impact on me. Someone with limited exposure would really enjoy this I think, and might even be blown away by some of the studies highlighted and by the explanations of why our brains work the way they do. The author, Dr. Wind Goodfriend, is a Professor of Psychology and Chair of Social Sciences at Buena Vista University. She writes in a down-to-earth and easy to understand style, and mixes in plenty of humor. She also narrates the Audible book I listened to. It is a *free* Audible Original at this time.
This is a collected group of lectures by the author, which starts out with a short history of psychology followed by nine chapters focusing on individual topics. The author uses a number of case studies and real life examples to illustrate the particular subjects. A lot of the subject matter is really relevant today given the political climate in the US and the many social issues that are currently in the news.
Here are the nine chapters after the initial history chapter, each one about a half hour long: 2. The Self in a Social World 3. Logic vs. Intuition 4. Perceiving Others 5: The Art of Persuasion 6. When Groups Help and Hurt 7. Conformity and Blind Obedience 8. Stereotypes and Prejudice 9. Understanding Aggression 10. Helping Others: The Questions of Altruism
As you can see, many of the topics are things we deal with everyday. Even though it felt like a review I liked it and would recommend to anyone with a limited knowledge of social psychology.
This was my third science read for Science September.
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